Marius Dewilde

Marius Dewilde was a 34-year-old French metallurgist who lived at level crossing 79 in Quarouble in northern France. On 10 September 1954 at around 10:30 p.m. he reported encountering a landed craft and two small humanoid beings near the railway tracks behind his house. The craft was dark, about three metres high and five metres in diameter; the beings were about 80 cm to 1 metre tall and wore mirror-like helmets, and Dewilde was paralysed by a beam of light.

• 34-year-old French metallurgist
• Residence at level crossing 79 in Quarouble, northern France
• Encounter on 10 September 1954 at around 10:30 p.m.
• Landed craft and two small humanoid beings near the railway tracks
• Craft dark, about 3 m high and 5 m in diameter; beings about 80 cm to 1 m tall with mirror-like helmets
• Dewilde was paralysed by a beam of light from the craft
• Case investigated by police and military officials; marks on railway ties consistent with a heavy object

For the UAP timeline, Dewilde is one of the earliest and best-known cases of the massive French UFO wave of 1954: a worker as witness, physical traces on railway ties and an official police-military investigation make Quarouble a cornerstone of the European close-encounter canon.